We made it safely back from Europe, and we are comfortably lounging on the couch watching American football today and trying to get used to Eastern Standard Time again. Europe was pretty amazing but definitely exhausting. We got more exercise over the past 9 days than we have in a long time! It was well worth it though.
Our first stop was Amsterdam for 2 days. The weather was cold, rainy and windy - we definitely were not expecting that. Other than the weather, it was a great city. We went to the Van Gogh Museum, took a bike tour to the countryside and saw a typical Dutch windmill and lots of cheese and clogs, saw the Anne Frank Huis, took a tour of the Heineken Brewery, went to a Dutch street market, and checked out the Red Light District. It is a very American city and easy to navigate using public transportation. It was amazing to see that most people ride a bike instead of driving a car. Click on the picture below for a link to our pictures from Amsterdam.
The next stop was in Paris for 3 days packed full of sightseeing. We had much better weather here. It was still kind of cool, but at least it didn't rain. On the first day, we walked through the Jardins des Tuileries near the Louvre to the Champs d'Elysee which leads up to the Arc de Triomphe. From there, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. We were able to time it perfectly so that we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset. It was beautiful! On the second day, Ryan and I took a short train ride out to Verseilles while Dave and Cindy ran 20 miles so that they could continue to train for the Baltimore Marathon. Verseilles is a huge, ridiculously lavish palace that is full of tons of marble, paintings, chandeliers, huge fireplaces and amazingly landscaped gardens. On our way back from Verseilles, Ryan and I went to the Catacombes where 6 million Parisiens are buried under the city. We also took the metro to the Boulevard de Richard Lenoir - we couldn't believe that there is a boulevard with the same name as Ryan's Dad! On our third day there, we went to see the Basilique du Sacre Coeur, the Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris, and Sainte-Chappelle. From there, I parted ways with Ryan, Dave & Cindy while they went to the Louvre and I hung out in the Jardins des Tuileries to read, write postcards and even nap! It was such a beautiful day - I couldn't pass up the chance to hang out in the park! Click on the picture of the Eiffel Tower below to see our pictures from Paris.
Click on the link of Ryan and me below to see our pictures from the Chateau de Verseilles.
Our next stop was Barcelona for 4 days. We arrived there and were very excited to see that the weather was much warmer. We even thought we were going to get to wear our shorts that we packed! We didn't really do much sightseeing during our first day in Barcelona. We spent some time getting settled in our apartment and exploring the city. The first day we were there was the last day of a festival, so we got to see a parade which was pretty cool. The second day started out fairly warm, and we headed for the double decker bus tour around the city. As the morning progressed, the weather got colder and colder and it started pouring. It was awful! After waiting about an hour in the rain for another bus, we were able to take it back to a stop close to our apartment where we changed into warmer clothes, got some lunch, and waited out the rain. We re-joined the bus tour and saw most of the southern part of the city. This was definitely a great way to see the city! We even got to go into the 1992 Olympic Stadium! On our third day, we took a short train ride out to Sitges (or Sturgis as Ryan liked to call it) to see the beautiful town right on the Mediterranean Sea. It was absolutely gorgeous. When we got there, Ryan and I realized that we hadn't dressed appropriately (i.e. wore shorts or bathing suits) so we took the train back into the city to do some other sightseeing and then ended up going back to Sitges the next day. We spent the afternoon of the third day sightseeing. We took the funicular and then a gondola up to the Montjuic Castle. It was awesome! Then we saw the Barcelona Cathedral and the Santa Maria Cathedral. Later that night we went to a football game for the Football Club of Barcelona. Their stadium is the largest stadium in Europe and it seats over 100,000 people. It was quite an experience. European football fans really get into the game. Instead of booing, they whistle very loudly. They also don't hesitate to call the opposing team members obscene names in Spanish. It was pretty crazy! Our last day in Barcelona was spent relaxing in Sitges at the beach. The weather was absolutely perfect, and I didn't want to leave. Click on the link of Ryan and me to see pictures from Barcelona.
Overall, our trip was pretty amazing. Our only complaints were the weather in Amsterdam and the smell of cigarette smoke everywhere we went. Other than that, we can't complain - we were very lucky to be able to have a vacation in Europe!
By the way, according to the Countdown clock, it's only 356 days until the Big Day! As I was reminded by Aunt Sue, I no longer have to tell people that our date is Sept 20th next year! Woo-hoo!! Can't wait for it to get here!!
We wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We are disappointed that we won't get to see everyone this Christmas -- splitting time between two families is really hard -- but we're working out a "rotation" to try and make it somewhat fair going forward. And... we're hoping once we have a bigger house (and possibly have some kids), maybe we can get both families to come to us, but it looks like that might be at least 2 years off, so for now, we'll have to make the best of the situation. We know that it's not perfect, but we appreciate our families' flexibility.
